The Hob

It is the place where Katniss, Gale, and other district citizens go to sell their poached animals and buy necessary items, such as food and clothing before it is razed to the ground in the wake of the Second Rebellion. Abject poverty and starvation drove the people of District 12 to illegally trade excess game from wild animals, liquor, and other items such as paraffin and clothing at the black market of District 12.

History of the Hob

Coal mining is the main industry of District 12 and the Hob once functioned as a coal warehouse before a more efficient system was discovered to transport the coal. The Hob was, therefore, abandoned and became the site of the Covey’s performances around the time of the 10th Hunger Games. Notably, the Hob was covered with a layer of coal dust even after the Covey took over.

Smiley said the Peacekeepers hung out at an old coal warehouse called the Hob, where you could purchase homemade liquor and maybe buy yourself some company.

‘The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes’

Music was extremely popular in District 12 during the 10th Hunger Games, and Lucy Gray Baird and her Covey family monopolized the industry, putting on performances every Saturday evening at the Hob. Civilians, coal miners, and Peacekeepers like Coriolanus Snow and Sejanus Plinth visited the Hob to view the performances, often indulging in alcohol while doing so.

“…were excited about the following Saturday’s entertainment. “There’s going to be a band at the Hob.” Coriolanus practically jumped on him. “A band? What band?” Smiley shrugged. “Can’t remember. But some girl will be singing. Supposed to be pretty good. Lucy somebody.”

‘The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes’

Later, music was banned for stirring up rebel sentiments among the people, and the Covey presumably stopped performing at the Hob. Gradually, the Hob transformed into the only black market in District 12.

Description of the Hob

The Hob is located in District 12, 20 minutes away from the Peacekeepers’ base while traveling on foot. Coriolanus Snow speculates that someone in the Capitol or the Capitol itself owned the Hob. However, the owner did not bother with the upkeep of it.

Even during the time of the 10th Hunger Games, the Hob functioned as a rudimentary black market after its abandonment. The walls of the Hob were lined with makeshift stalls that displayed various items, including sandals, dead rabbits, candle stubs, and spectacles.

After about twenty minutes, they arrived at the Hob. A warehouse for coal in better days, reduced production had left it abandoned. Probably someone in the Capitol owned it, if not the Capitol itself, but no oversight or upkeep was apparent. Along the walls, a few makeshift stalls displayed odds and ends, much of them secondhand. Among the offerings, Coriolanus saw everything from candle stubs to dead rabbits, homemade woven sandals to cracked eyeglasses.

‘The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes’

The stage for the Covey’s performances was a bunch of wooden pallets stacked in one corner of the Hob, and the audience sat on buckets, spools, or crates.

During Katniss’ time, the Hob gradually turned into a black market filled with makeshift stalls, and the stage was removed. Not only did people sell items, but vendors such as Greasy Sae even made soup for frequenters of the Hob.

Other popular locations in District 12 include the Seam, the Merchant Section, the Victors’ Village, the meadow, the town square, and the Justice Building. It was mostly the people from the streets of the Seam who frequented the Hob, as the residents from the Merchant area were wealthier and did not require the black market.

The Hob as the “Black Market”

The Hob functioned as the black market in District 12, selling illegal items to both residents of the district as well as the Peacekeepers. The Peacekeepers in District 12 allowed the Hob to function, and some, like Darius, even frequented the market as it was the only place where they could get alcohol or their favorite foods.

The Hob functioned twenty-four hours and was also kept open when legal stores were supposed to be closed – such as during the Reaping Ceremony and during the night.

On the way home, we swing by the Hob, the black market that operates in an abandoned warehouse that once held coal. When they came up with a more efficient system that transported the coal directly from the mines to the trains, the Hob gradually took over the space. Most businesses are closed by this time on reaping day, but the black market’s still fairly busy. We easily trade six of the fish for good bread, the other two for salt.

‘The Hunger Games’

Katniss Everdeen and Gale Hawthorne frequented the Hob almost every day, either selling their poached animals for much-needed money or exchanging them for their daily necessities.

The Destruction of the Hob

During the reign of Head Peacekeeper Cray, who was quite lenient in his dealings with the residents, the Hob was tolerated by the officials. Cray himself bought white liquor from Ripper at the Hob. However, when Cray was replaced by Romulus Thread right before Panem’s second war, the Hob was no longer tolerated. Thread set fire to the black market, which quickly went up in flames due to the coal dust that coated the entire area. 

Later, any sign of the Hob was obliterated during the bombing of District 12, which became a mass grave for the residents of the Seam and the Merchant area alike. It is not known whether the Hob was rebuilt during the reconstruction.

Known Vendors and Hawkers at the Hob

Some of the known vendors at the Hob include Greasy Sae and Ripper, both of whom were known to make their living entirely from the Hob. Greasy Sae’s soup was especially popular amongst traders at the Hob. There was also Rooba, the butcher who took in the game from Katniss and Gale, as well as Primrose Everdeen who sold goat’s cheese at the Hob.

Known Customers at the Hob

Known customers of the Hob include Katniss Everdeen, Mr. Everdeen, Gale Hawthorne, and Haymitch Abernathy, as well as Peacekeepers like Purnia, Cray, and Darius. Right after the 10th Hunger Games, the audience at the Hob included Coriolanus Snow, Sejanus Plinth, Junius, Beanpole, and Bug.

What we didn’t absolutely have to eat, I began to trade at the Hob. It was frightening to enter that place without my father at my side, but people had respected him, and they accepted me. Game was game after all, no matter who’d shot it.

Katniss Everdeen in ‘The Hunger Games’

Contraband Items at the Hob

The illegal items sold at the Hob included alcohol, such as white liquor and wine. The Hob also sold food such as bread, eggs, coffee, buns, lard, mouse meat, oil, goat cheese, salt, pig entrails, soups, beans, and gourds. People could also buy wild greens and wild game such as venison, squirrel, fish, turkey, and dog.

Other items included clothing, yarn, wool, shoelaces, radios, medicine, candles, and paraffin, as well as luxury items such as lynx pelt and jewelry. Katniss even managed to exchange a young buck for a live goat, which she gifted to her sister, Primrose Everdeen, on her tenth birthday.

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